Coaches: How to prevent eating disorders in your athletes

Due to the pressure to be the best, meet a certain weight or achieve a certain level of body fat, athletes are at an increased risk of developing eating disorders. Whether or not an eating disorder develops is dependent on many things. However, a coach often plays a leading role in this process: in a way that can either encourage or discourage an eating disorder. Are you a coach concerned about creating a culture of restrictive eating and unsafe dieting practices? Being aware of this potential is an important first step. Here are some tips to prevent eating disorders in the athletes you work with every day.

1. First it is important to recognize that eating disorder behaviors are serious. The leading causes of death for people with eating disorders are cardiac arrest and suicide, so observing unsafe behaviors is not something to be ignored.

When is the best time of day to eat protein?

With many athletes trying to build or maintain muscle, questions about protein are plenty. Many athletes wonder when, how much, and from what sources they should be getting their protein. What is the best way to meet their protein needs?

When and How Much
Studies have shown that the class American eating style of minimal protein for breakfast, small amounts of protein for lunch and gigantic portions of protein at dinner is not the most efficient way to feed muscles. Instead, eating 20-30 grams of protein 3 times per day with 10-15 gm protein incorporated into snacks between meals will help the muscles most efficiently process protein and, therefore, build muscle.

Tiny eating and exercise tricks for big weight loss

About this time of year, many of my athletes come into my office asking about dropping weight. Whether it is for health, performance or vanity reasons, a request to drop 5-15 pounds is common. Perhaps with the snow thawing and weather warming, your overall health and/or summer races are on your mind too. One thing I emphasize with my athletes is that weight loss is not easy. It takes commitment every day and throughout the day. However, there many tricks with respect to eating and exercising that will increase your chance of success.

Methods of Eating
1. Eat slowly. Commit to at least 10 minutes for a snack and 20 minutes for a meal (minimum). Chew your food thoroughly. Put the fork down and drink water between bites.
2. Eat with someone. Enjoy conversation; this will naturally slow your eating pace.
3. Cut food into small pieces. This creates the allusion of a greater volume of food, as well as - again- slows your eating pace.

Complete protein combos: Why vegetarians/vegans should care

When I have vegetarians or vegans come see me, most are concerned that they might not be meeting their overall macro- and micronutrient needs not only for general health, but for athletic performance as well. When assessing their intake, one topic we often discuss is complete protein combinations at meals and snacks. But what are complete proteins and why does it matter?

What are complete protein combinations (the science)?
Protein is made up of amino acids (you probably learned that these are the "building blocks" of protein in high school). There are 9 essential amino acids. An amino acid is essential if the body does not make it on its own, meaning you must consume food that contains these 9 amino acids. Most animal proteins naturally contain all 9 essential amino acids in enough amounts that they can stand alone as good quality protein options for meals and snacks. However, many plant sources of protein have what is called a "limiting" amino acid, or an amino acid that is in a relatively low amount. The idea behind consuming complete protein combinations means combining foods that together provide an adequate amount of all 9 essential amino acids. So together they "complement" eachother's limiting amino acid, bringing the total between the two foods to an adequate amount for all 9 essential amino acids.

Muscle cramps cramping your performance?

I often have athletes in my office who complain of muscle cramping. They wonder what they can do to ward them off. If only the answer was clear. Unfortunately it's not always apparent what might be "cramping your style"....

What are muscle cramps?

The exact reason why muscles cramp is unclear. It’s difficult to distinguish a single culprit, but improper training, stretching or carbohydrate intake techniques are sometimes the source. However, another common reason is an imbalance of electrolytes in the muscle may predispose the muscle to cramping. Electrolytes are present to help muscles contract and relax appropriately during exercise. You have probably heard the term “electrolytes” in sports drink or recovery drink advertisements. This is because during exercise the body can lose a substantial amount of electrolytes in sweat (mainly sodium). If these are not replaced in the right amounts, it creates an imbalance within the muscle, locking the muscle in a painful spasm.

Why would someone have problems with cramping?

If due to a nutritional imbalance, poor hydration habits can lead to muscle cramping. The most common is an infatuation with drinking only water during exercise. While this is fine during moderate or even semi-intense short-term (lasting <60 minutes) exercise, athletes completing prolonged vigorous exercise – especially more than 90 minutes at a time – need more than just water because they are losing more than just water. There can also be a substantial amount of electrolytes lost with water during sweating. Athletes who are particularly heavy sweaters or exercise for long periods of time need to be cognizant of this fact. Other hydration-related habits that can increase the likelihood of developing muscle cramping is exercising in hot and/or humid environments when the athlete is not acclimated or simply not drinking enough of anything during exercise – water or not.

How does one prevent muscle cramping?

Plan ahead and don’t drink just water during or after heavy exercise. This will assure that you are replacing your body’s electrolyte losses. During exercise, use a sports drink or diluted 100% fruit juice (half water, half juice) with added salt. Particularly heavy sweaters may need something with extra electrolytes such as Gatorade Endurance, or may choose to add a separate electrolyte supplement to their regular sports drink, such as Nuun tabs. Read my blog here for more information.

After exercise, you may need to continue that sports drink or instead use a recovery drink such as low-fat chocolate milk. Assure you are also getting enough potassium in your daily diet from foods such as pinto and kidney beans, bananas, tomatoes, spinach, cantaloupe, and milk. To maintain sodium levels, some athletes may need to use the salt shaker liberally at meals or eat salty foods such as pretzels, pickles, or canned foods. But remember, these types of recommendations are very individual and don’t apply to every athlete or even every day of the training year.

If you are having problems with muscle cramping during or in the hours after exercise, it’s important to re-evaluate your hydration plan before, during, and after exercise. Muscle cramping may be COMMON in athletes, but it is not smart and it IS preventable.

Be Extraordinary,


RDKate